Word has reached our ears that there’s trouble on the south side of the Great Lakes. America’s orchestras are in an uproar, struggling with strikes, lockouts, cutbacks, bankruptcies and every other kind of financial woe. (Canada’s orchestras went through a year of discontent, ten years ago. I wrote an essay about it, which you can read here.)

The problems are throwing a harsh glare on the management of American orchestras – and exposing some disturbing attitudes and practices.

Tuesday would be Glenn Gould’s 80th birthday, if he were still with us.

Sadly, he only lived to 50. Yet, the world remains fascinated with Canada’s most famous pianist. His recordings still sell well, and he’s been the subject of many books, articles and films. (For my own contribution to this mountain of material – my book Remembering Glenn Gould – see here.)

And when “Gouldies” get to talking about their hero, one question that sometimes arises is “What would Glenn Gould be doing today, if he were still alive?”

I believe I can propose a modest answer to this question. If he were alive and still playing the piano, he would do so while carefully balancing himself on the crossbars of a broken-down chair that’s six decades old.

Here’s a composer whom, I must admit, I did not know until I stumbled upon his music on YouTube.

Pawel Szymanski was born in Warsaw in 1954. He’s well in with the European New Music Establishment (awards, commissions, etc.), and is prominent in the field of electroacoustic music. (For more information on Szymanski, see here.)

Evidently, he has been influenced by Arvo Pärt & Co. Moreover, he has successfully married the sombre pandiatonicism of “holy minimalism” with the sound-palette of electroacoustics. He calls his compositional style “surconventionalism.”

Now that the Toronto International Film Festival is winding down, the city’s cultural life will soon return to normal. And one of the more appealing features of cultural normalcy in Toronto is the Bloor Cinema, which shows documentary films (mostly), seven nights a week.

I mention this here because there’s a movie showing at the Bloor next week that will interest the classical music community. It’s called Wagner and Me, and it runs from September 21 through 27.

The “Wagner” is of course the composer Richard Wagner – and the “Me” is Stephen Fry, the English actor, journalist and director. Who knew the affable and avuncular Fry was also a Wagner fan?

I first heard the New Orford Quartet last winter, under less-than-ideal conditions: in a pre-concert performance at a Toronto Symphony concert, in the lobby of Roy Thomson Hall. With the inevitable background noise, it was hard to hear every nuance of their performance – but I heard enough to want to hear them again.

So when I learned that the New Orfords would be playing a concert at Gallery 345, a warehouse space in Toronto’s West End, I made plans to attend.

Among the current crop of crises within American orchestras, none is more serious than the situation at the Minnesota Orchestra.

Despite the ensemble’s widely admired stature and its glorious history, its musicians are currently being asked to accept a bundle of drastic changes.

Media attention has focused on management’s demand for a $40,000 cut in annual pay. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Management is also trying to dismantle many existing contractual agreements governing working conditions. Medical benefits would be cut, hours worked would increase, and the orchestra would play more “pops” concerts. (See here or here for more information about the situation.)

Eatock Daily

I'm a composer and writer based in Toronto – and this is my classical music blog, Eatock Daily.

Here you'll find musings and meditations, some reviews and the occasional rant – as well as some of the articlesI've written for Toronto’s National Post and Globe and Mailnewspapers, the Houston Chronicle, the Kansas City Star and other publications.